Sports

With the World Cup always held in the European off-season in June and July, the awarding of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar offers the prospect of players and spectators sweating through the hottest part of the year. Doha sees an average top temperature of 41 degrees Celsius (106°F) in these months with the possibility of top temperatures as high as 50°C (122°F). While shifting the World Cup to the cooler month of January has been mooted and since rejected, a team of engineering scientists from Qatar University (QU) have taken a more high-tech approach to solving the problem – they've reportedly developed a type of artificial "cloud" designed to float above the World Cup venues and provide fans and players with relief from the blazing sun. Read More

Given that legendary Italian bicycle-maker Colnago has collaborated with Ferrari on limited-edition bikes in the past, it perhaps shouldn’t come as a surprise that another bicycle company might also see the technological (and marketing) value of hooking up with a maker of racing and luxury automobiles. This time around, it’s America’s Specialized, that has joined forces with the UK’s McLaren Applied Technologies. Together, the two have created what is being promoted as “the fastest complete performance bike in the world” – the S-Works + McLaren Venge. Read More

Consider your bicycle's handlebar stem cap for a moment. It's right there in front of you as you ride, yet it tells you nothing. Colorado mountain bikers Graeson Lewis and Mike Hogan obviously thought that just wasn't good enough, and decided to put the humble stem cap to work. The result is their product, the StemCAPtain, which replaces a conventional cap with one that incorporates a waterproof analog clock, thermometer or compass. Read More

In an activity that for many of its participants is akin to a religion, the merging of surfing and technology might seem a bit like blasphemy. But while surfing is still about lifestyle for many of us, these days it's also a competitive sport offering huge amounts of prize money, so it's no surprise to see the emergence of boards packing more than just polyurethane within their fiberglass shells. With the aim of "turning feelings into facts and figures", research company Tecnalia and Spanish surfboard manufacturer Pukas have teamed up to create a surfboard that packs a gyroscope, accelerometer, GPS compass, pressure sensors and strain gauges to measure the flex of the board – but no headlights. Read More

It seems like almost everything that once existed solely as an electronic device is now also available as a smartphone app, and cycling computers are certainly no exception. Applications such as Cyclemeter, B.iCycle and PedalBrain – just to name a few – all allow riders to use their iPhones to keep track of things such as speed, location, and distance travelled. Now, Florida-based Velocomp has thrown its hat into the ring with the iBike Dash CC (Cycling Computer) app and hardware package. Read More

While electric commuting bikes are currently experiencing a surge in popularity, electric mountain bikes such as the Conway E-Rider and the KTM eGnition are also showing up on tradeshow floors with increasing frequency. Most of these are designed as cross-country and/or trail bikes, with the idea that the motor can extend their range above the reaches of pure human power – of course, they might also appeal to couch potatoes who want all the fun of mountain biking, with a minimum of the exercise. The EGO-Kit, however, is an electric motor that can be added onto an existing downhill mountain bike, with the specific purpose of replacing a chair lift for getting bike and rider to the top of the mountain. Read More

If you can buy Porsche bicycles, Lamborghini hard drives, or spend a day at the Ferrari World amusement park, then why shouldn’t you be able to snap on a pair of Audi skis? You may soon have the chance, given the reported success of the German automaker’s experiment with its Audi Carbon Ski concept. Designed and developed at Audi Concept Design in Munich, the downhill skis were created in collaboration with specialists from ski-making company Head, and the German Ski Association. The result is an ultra-lightweight ski that is said to offer premium performance. Read More

It seems you can get just about anything from vending machines these days. From shoes to flowers and ice cream to gold it can all be had by slotting a bit of cash into a machine – or in the case of the gold vending machine, a lot of cash or a credit card with a decent limit. Now there’s another unlikely vending machine offering in the form of the RoboPutt, a robotic vending machine that will dole out a five minute putting lesson for the cost of a decent golf ball. Read More

It’s kind of like table tennis, kind of like squash, and looks like it would definitely be a good workout – it’s 360ball, a new racquet sport out of South Africa. Games are played on a circular court by two players, or two teams of two players, who are situated around a central concave deflecting disc. Players hit the ball into the disc, trying to do so in such a way that when it bounces out, their opponent(s) won’t be able to reach it. Unlike tennis, say, there are no designated sides on which players have to remain. Instead, everyone is allowed to move 360 degrees around the disc as play dictates ... hence the name. Read More